"Life is a splendid gift" - my main course recipe for Great British Menu 2018

Dan Fletcher

Dan Fletcher

16th August 2018
Dan Fletcher

"Life is a splendid gift" - my main course recipe for Great British Menu 2018

My main course was a tribute to Florence Nightingale and all of the nursing staff in the NHS.

Ingredients

  • 800g centre cut beef fillet
  • 60g butter
  • 1 sprig of thyme
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • Beer & Onion Glaze:
  • 1kg white onions
  • 200ml Yorkshire ale
  • 100g light brown sugar
  • 60ml sherry vinegar
  • 2g chilli flakes
  • 100g butter
  • 2g gelespressa
  • Mixed Grain Crust:
  • 100g wild rice
  • 80g sunflower seeds
  • 150g sourdough breadcrumbs
  • 80g pumpkin seeds
  • 50g sesame seeds
  • 25g kasha buckwheat
  • 2 sprigs of thyme
  • 100g butter
  • Beef sauce:
  • 2.5l true foods beef stock
  • 2.5l true foods veal stock
  • 2kg diced beef
  • 500g button mushrooms
  • 50ml sherry vinegar
  • 500ml red wine
  • 300ml port
  • 500g shallots
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • 1 head garlic
  • Salsify:
  • 3 large sticks salsify
  • 50g horseradish
  • 150g white wine
  • 50g white wine vinegar
  • 200g double cream
  • 1 sprig of thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Vegetable garnish:
  • 4 baby yellow beetroots
  • 1 blue meat radish
  • 1 black radish
  • 1 red meat radish
  • 4 extra large tokyo turnips
  • 4 baby turnips
  • 250ml chardonnay vinegar
  • 500ml golden chicken stock

Method

Large and medium pan on
Prepare items for sauce
Add diced beef to heated large pan
Prepare items for beer and onion glaze
Put beer and onion glaze ingredients in heated medium pan
Put pan of oil on
Put crust ingredients in oven – set timer
Put sourdough breadcrumbs on
Put vinegar on to reduce for salsify
Add shallots and mushrooms to sauce
Add vinegar and alcohol to sauce
Prepare baby beetroots – vacuum pack, cook in 100 degree steamer – set timer
Prepare Tokyo turnips, vacuum pack, cook in 100 degree steamer – set timer
Add stock to sauce
Prepare salsify and leave in ascorbic acid
Deep fry rice
Prepare remaining vegetable garnish
Add sugar and vinegar to onion glaze
Add ale to onion glaze
Pass sauce and reduce
Blanche salsify
Cook beef
Prepare cooked turnips and beetroots
Chop beef crust
Blitz onion glaze
Dress plates and serve

In these challenging times…

The Staff Canteen team are taking a different approach to keeping our website independent and delivering content free from commercial influence. Our Editorial team have a critical role to play in informing and supporting our audience in a balanced way. We would never put up a paywall  – The Staff Canteen is open to all and we want to keep bringing you the content you want; more from younger chefs, more on mental health, more tips and industry knowledge, more recipes and more videos. We need your support right now, more than ever, to keep The Staff Canteen active. Without your financial contributions this would not be possible.

Over the last 16 years, The Staff Canteen has built what has become the go-to platform for chefs and hospitality professionals. As members and visitors, your daily support has made The Staff Canteen what it is today. Our features and videos from the world’s biggest name chefs are something we are proud of. We have over 560,000 followers across Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and other social channels, each connecting with chefs across the world. Our editorial and social media team are creating and delivering engaging content every day, to support you and the whole sector - we want to do more for you.

A single coffee is more than £2, a beer is £4.50 and a large glass of wine can be £6 or more.

Support The Staff Canteen from as little as £1 today. Thank you.